From India, where he was born, he learned the value of diversity. From the United States, where he lived for ten years, where his children were born and where he still has a house and a green card, he learned that the 'American dream' is not a legend. In Japan, where he spent time, he understood the value of consensus and how it could speed up business. In Luxembourg, where he has lived for the past 12 years and acquired citizenship, Lokdeep Singh says he has all the right ingredients, including the charm of meeting more than 150 nationalities.
“I am very honoured and humbled to have been chosen to lead this company of which I am the first fan,” said the new CEO in his first interview with Delano’s sister publication Paperjam. “I discovered Talkwalker through friends who, like me, played hockey. I am fully committed to enabling the company to continue to achieve double-digit growth and to develop globally.”
Growth and profitability are the key words in 2022
Not even a year after the appointment of Nielsen, the appointment of Singh comes as a small surprise for one of Luxembourg’s most emblematic start-ups, which has gone hunting in the United States and all over the world for its top staff.
We needed someone who was close to the product, who had a technical background. That's where I come from."
“Tod (Nielsen) was recruited to define a strategy and put the team in place properly for that strategy. He has done that in his first six months and I think he should stay on the board. So he will always be close to me to continue to guide me,” said Singh.
“Then, after years of development, we needed someone who was close to the product, who had a technical background. That’s where I come from,” said the new CEO who has worked for Alcatel, Qualcomm, Lucent or Worldcell, and more recently in Luxembourg for Syniverse and Synchronoss. “We also felt that we needed to have a local leader and a global perspective.”
Cost structures to be reviewed
His appointment comes against a backdrop of varying degrees of slow-down by many tech companies, which are freezing hiring or slashing staffing levels to prepare for a global economic crisis from this autumn.
“In six months, we’ve seen tech companies lose $3trn in valuation,” said Singh, who joined Talkwalker in January. “We need to be ready for this economic downturn with inflation, while maintaining a focus on growth and profitability. I want to go where the talent is. And for me, that means three things: the ability to change size or volume, growth and profitability. And on these three aspects, Luxembourg works very well. It’s not a question of going to low-cost centres, because in the end it doesn’t work.”
His first task will be to review cost structures to continue to grow, with a focus on the US and Europe. In other words, some of the offices that have been opened in different latitudes in recent years will close, at least temporarily, such as the Australian office, with continental business continuing to be managed from Singapore.
Will this result in job cuts at this market leader in brand monitoring and marketing strategy support? “Slightly,” said the CEO. Talkwalker currently employs 550 people. “We will continue to recruit after reviewing our operational structure. It’s important to say that.”
In strict compliance with data regulations
By the end of 2022, Talkwalker intends to be profitable, economic difficulties or not, by offering its customers the best analysis of their market to enable them to make the right decisions or defend their brands, based on the unique artificial intelligence developed from Luxembourg.
“All of this is done in strict compliance with data protection regulations,” said Singh. “Many of our competitors will not be able to say the same.” Data is everywhere, often poorly protected, but the difficulty is to be able to aggregate it, qualify it and respect the rules of the game. “With the arrival of ‘dual consent’, other sources of information will be added to those we have been using since the beginning and will add value.”
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.